Faithless

Chapter Six

Jasmina watched as Cam’s whole body went stiff which made her grimace. She made him react like that. He rolled his shoulders, trying to just shake it off and keep his composure, but Jasmina could tell her words had affected him deeply.

“Do you know when it’s supposed to happen?”

“It doesn’t matter. It’s not real.” She whispered, more to herself than Cam. She hugged her knees tightly, resting her head on them. He sighed, running his hands through his hair. “You go against everything everyone has ever told me. You can’t just blurt something like this out and then just expect me to believe you.”

“I know.” Cam mumbled. He paused for a while, looking around. “It’s really beautiful down here, you know.”

“It’s better in the summer.” Jasmina shrugged. Cam just nodded then stood up, he held out a hand, gesturing for her to take it.

"Let me show you something." He said. Jasmina sighed reaching for his hand to help her stand up and waited. He turned her around and pulled her close, so that his chest touched her back. Jasmina didn't know how to react. She felt as if she should have walked away, but she was also silently grateful for the comforting feeling that came over her, and the extra warmth she now felt.

"I thought you were going to show me something." She said quietly, c*****g her head so she could see Cam's face.

"Shh." He smirked. "Just look forward." He said, taking her hands in his. He stretched out their arms in front of them, then angled their hands at the floor. Jasmina looked at their hands and at the same time she felt an odd, but comforting warmth spread over her fingers, then small blue flowers began sprouting up from the ground directly below their hands. Cam raised their hands higher and before Jasmina knew it, the whole clearing was covered in beautiful, small blue flowers. She stared out at the field, gob-smacked. Cam, wrapped his arms around her waist loosely, while she just stood there and took it all in. The flowers were almost glowing in the moonlight.

Cam squeezed her hip lightly, then backed away a little and picked one of the flowers. Jasmina turned to face him and he placed it in the palm of her hand.

"Do you believe me now?"

Jasmina was silent for the longest time. She didn’t know what to believe. Cam seemed to understand and he just sat down, watching her quietly. She knew she had to say something, but she couldn’t even remember how to form words.

“I… I believe what you are. But I can’t believe what you say I am.” She said quietly, looking at the floor.

“Even if my life depends on it?” He asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Don’t go there.” Jasmina frowned.

“Well it’s true. How does it happen?”

“It doesn’t matter. It’s not real.” She mumbled.

“Jasmina please. You might not believe, but I do.” He begged, standing up. He stepped close to Jasmina, placing his hands on her shoulders. “What did you see?” He asked, looking straight into her eyes, stopping her from being able to look away. Jasmina sighed to herself, closing her eyes for a second.

“It was night. I was here, in this clearing. And I heard yelling from the school. When I went up there it wasn’t the school, but there was a house in the middle of nowhere.”

“Surrounded by fields and trees?” He asked. Jasmina nodded, carrying on. She tried to ignore the fact that he already seemed familiar with what she described.

“The house was on fire and there were people outside with guns. You ran out of the house and they… They shot.” She finished, looking away. She found her eyes checking for blood one more time. If she didn't have as much self-control as she did in that moment, she would have been pulling at his shirt checking for wounds, but she knew that would be insane, even if she could still see the blood clearly in her mind. Cam just nodded, but she could tell he was freaking out inside. Jasmina would be too if someone told her how she was going to die. Especially if she actually believed them, like he did with her. "I would bin that shirt if I were you." She mumbled quietly.

“The future always changes.” He mumbled to himself. Jasmina nodded in agreement, thinking about Candice, and the things she got her out of. When Jasmina looked back at Cam she knew she shouldn’t have even moved, he noticed everything she did. “What have you changed?”

“Nothing.”

“Liar, what was it?”

“You have no idea what I have been through, okay? Just get off my case.” She muttered, pushing his hands off her shoulders, and heading back to school.

“Jasmina wait…” He said, running after her.

“No, you know what you have no idea what it's like, being scared to go and do something just because you had a freaky dream the night before. How dare you come out of nowhere and tell me it's all real after I have had everyone telling me I’m insane my whole life!” She snapped.

“I know this is hard, but look at what I did. That was real. There are no hidden wires out here. I wouldn’t be here now if we weren’t certain of what you are. Me and my family don't go around exposing what we are on just a hunch.” He explained, but she didn’t answer. “Look just go and sleep on it, but just know that you need help and soon. You're very powerful and we know how bad your dreams are getting. You need to learn to control it and you can't tell anyone about this. If you need to talk, you need to either come to me or talk to Ruby. She's one of us and she can help you.” He said. That made her listen closely.

“Control it? As in stop it?” She asked, the desperation was clear in her voice but she didn't care.

“I’m not sure yet. I don’t know how to help you control it, but others do. My dad can.” He replied. Jasmina felt disappointed, but the idea of a little more control did intrigue her. She ran her hands through her hair.

“I need to go.” She sighed.

“Meet me tomorrow in town, if you decide you want to know more.”

“Where?”

“There’s a small cafe near the train station. Do you know it?” Jasmina nodded. “I’ll be there. All day if I have to be.” He said. Jasmina looked down at the blue flower still in her hand. She put it in her jacket pocket then headed back to the school without another word.

She managed to creep back into the dorm without any problems and crawled into bed, trying her best to stop her head from spinning. She had learnt far too much within such a short amount of time. Candice was still fast asleep in her bed, which made Jasmina smile a little. She did her best to settle down and close her eyes, ignoring all the thoughts swirling around in her mind.

Jasmina managed to sleep for a few hours, but she still woke up before anyone else. Her mind drifted back to last night, about how Cam just made the flowers appear. She looked to her nightstand, seeing the blue flower Cam gave her. It was proof that it was real and not just in her head. Before Candice woke up Jasmina hid the flower in her nightstand, deciding it would be best if she kept it to herself for now. She felt like she was stepping on dangerous ground and she wasn't sure if she was ready to make yet more confessions to Candice about what was going on.

She decided she needed to get up and get ready for the day. Jasmina hadn't decided if she was going to see Cam or not, but it was definitely on the table. She toyed with the idea over and over while she got herself ready. She couldn't deny that she was intrigued by him and whatever he had to say, but listening to him and believing him felt like a sure way to end up having yet another relapse and another stint in the hospital. If her dad knew about her dreams just lately she would have been straight back into her counsellor's office already by now.

By the time she was done Candice had woken up and dragged her feet all the way into the shower room, grumbling the whole time. Jasmina was still plaiting her hair down the side when she looked up to see her best friend.

"You're up early." Jasmina frowned.

“Logan wants to go into town.” She yawned. Jasmina just nodded.

"Mind if I tag along? I might have a couple things to do in town."

"Sure. Anything to save me from standing around in 'Game' all damn day." Candice just muttered bitterly. Jasmina just smiled to herself and headed back to their room. She had brought herself more time to think about her next move. Either she could spend the whole day with Candice and Logan, or she could ditch them for a while and speak to Cam. She felt butterflies in her stomach just thinking about it. She couldn't help but wonder if she was doing the wrong thing by entertaining the idea at all.

Once she was back in her room, Jasmina applied a little make up and then waited for Candice to get ready. Candice took her time while Logan was furiously texting her, telling her to hurry up. As soon as she announced she was ready, she all but dragged Jasmina out of the dorm and to the main gate. Logan shook his head when he saw them, looking as moody as ever.

“You two have any idea how cold it is out here?” He glared, shaking his head, doing small jumps up and down to keep himself warm.

“Blame her this time, not me.” Jasmina shrugged. Candice just chuckled to herself, happy to take the blame. Logan just shook his head, leading the way to town. There weren't that many places to go in Blue Hollow. It was a fairly small town in comparison to most and not much ever happened in it. Or at least that was what Jasmina used to think, before Cam had showed up.

The mall was only a twenty minute walk away from the school, and the train station was only a five minute walk from the mall. Jasmina kept thinking about Cam waiting in that café, picturing what on earth he could have left to say to her. Her mind was still completely focused on the events of last night. She knew it was real. She didn't just dream it up, or anything like that. Cam had stood there and somehow, with his hands he covered the field in pretty blue flowers. Jasmina cursed herself for not going back there this morning to see if the flowers were still there or not. Maybe he would have had to hide them anyway. He said that him and his family didn't just expose what they were to anyone. Leaving a field of flowers out of season would be a pretty big red flag.

Logan headed for the bookstore, while Candice and Jasmina went to the clothes store. Half an hour in and Jasmina had stopped paying attention to the names of each of the stores as Candice insisted they went in every single one anyway. In one shop they walked up to the pyjama section which was conveniently placed next to the underwear section. Jasmina cringed as soon as Candice ran into it, she just knew it would backfire on her. Two minutes later she came back holding a purple lacy bra, wiggling her eyebrows in her trademark way.

“Got anyone you want to impress?” Candice asked, grinning from ear to ear.

“You need to get your head out of the gutter.” Jasmina laughed.

“Yeah, like that will ever happen.” She sighed dramatically then walked away, yelling “they have it in red.” Over her shoulder. Jasmina just shook her head and carried on browsing. She would receive an allowance every week from her father and she had been saving it for a couple of months now, preparing for a shopping trip with Candice. She would probably be spending it right now if it wasn't for her mind being so preoccupied. After five more minutes Candice declared they were finished in this store and the pair moved on.

“Where are we going now?” Jasmina asked, looking around.

“I think we should meet up with Logan and get something to eat.” Candice suggested. Jasmina thought about Cam, and finally made up her mind.

“You two go ahead, I actually have something I need to go and do while we’re here.”

“Is it to do with… What you told me?” Candice asked, keeping her voice as low as possible, just in case someone nearby would c***k her code. Jasmina smiled at that.

“Well… Kind of. I won’t be long, I promise. Just tell Logan I have gone to the doctors about my time of the month or something, you know what he’s like.” Jasmina laughed.

“He’ll never be able to look you in the eye again!” Candice laughed. “Oh I can't wait for this. Just text me when your done and we can meet up.” She shrugged, Jasmina nodded, taking off in the opposite direction to Candice. She walked as quickly as she could to the train station, and then found her way from there to the local café. True to his word Cam was sitting at a booth in the corner, waiting. He drummed away on his coffee cup while he sat, obviously deep in thought. He saw Jasmina immediately, watching as she walked over. She sat down opposite and averted her eyes from him, taking a deep breath.

“Curiously get the best of you?” He asked, trying to keep the conversation light hearted.

“Curiously killed the cat.” She sighed, finally meeting his eyes. “So what now? You tell me how pixies, fairies and trolls are all real and how we’re, what exactly, superheroes?”

“Well I’m not sure on the whole pixies, fairies and trolls thing, but I’m sure the superhero thing can be arranged.” He shrugged, taking a sip of his coffee. "That all depends on what kind of witch you want to be."

“Yeah right. Well if you want me to really buy into all this you better start explaining.”

“We’re not even going to get drinks first? Talk about in a hurry.” He joked. “I didn’t really think this part through, I guess. But we have all day. So why not grab a drink and we can go over this together." He said, running his hands through his hair. Jasmina nodded in agreement, heading up to the counter and ordering herself a hot chocolate. She sat in the booth while she waited for her drink. There was no point starting a conversation when they knew they would be interrupted soon, so the pair sat in silence instead.

“I think it will snow soon.” Jasmina mumbled, glancing outside behind her. Cam looked at her and then out the window.

“Yeah I guess.” He shrugged. “So whereabouts are you with all of this? Are you still not believing me entirely or what exactly?” He asked. The waitress came over and gave Jasmina her drink, which Jasmina thanked her for. She wrapped her hands around the mug, taking full advantage of the warmth.

“I believe the part about you, and what you are. I just don’t believe what you said about me.”

“Okay then, well let's forget the part about you for now. I can explain the rest of it first.”

“Okay.”

“Alright.” Cam nodded, Jasmina could tell he was looking for a starting point, so she figured she would help him out.

“Why are you here?”

“We’re trying to build a coven. My coven has four members, including me. We need three more to complete it.”

“What happens when it’s completed?”

“We are all connected and more powerful than before. It means that we are more protected.”

“From what?” Jasmina frowned, stopping for a second. Cam sighed and she knew he regretted what he had said.

“Hunters. They would have been the ones holding the guns in your vision.”

“My dream.” Jasmina corrected quietly. She took a second to think, trying to come up with another question while they were here. “So… The idea is every witch..."

"And warlock."

"... Aims to get into a coven of seven so they are protected and can do what exactly?”

“Anything they like. We can still live normal lives, if that's what we want. This doesn’t define your whole future, or at least it doesn’t have to. There’s nothing forcing you to even join a coven, it’s just easier that way.” Cam shrugged. “Anyway that’s not all of it. There are also guardians, who are basically elderly witches and warlocks who decide to devote their lives to helping young witches and warlocks to find their way, mostly by helping them create their own coven. My dad is one.”

“So what happens with him when your coven is complete?”

“He moves on to the next witch or warlock who needs a little help.” Cam shrugged.

“Must be hard. Knowing he’s going as soon as the coven is complete.”

“It’s not so bad. We don’t see eye to eye anyway.”

“I know how that feels.” Jasmina mumbled. Cam didn’t say anything, which she was kind of thankful for. “So is that all of it? I mean you're not going to turn around and say I have to start praying to some mysterious dark entity or something are you?”

“No, nothing like that.” Cam smirked. “That’s everything you need to know for now, but you do need help. You're only going to get stronger and if you don’t learn to control it… Someone could get hurt.” He frowned. Jasmina just ignored him, still refusing to believe anything he said about her. Cam just pursed his lips, studying Jasmina's face. He knew there was nothing left that he could say to her to convince her to believe him. At least not right now.

“I need to head back, my friends will be wondering where I am.” She frowned looking around.

“I’ll walk you back, I’m guessing the mall?”

“How’d you know? In fact how do you know anything about me?”

“It’s where everyone seems to go in this town.” Cam smirked. “And I know what I know about you, because Tyler, from my coven, can see other witches and warlocks. He can tell things about them and he’s always been pretty accurate with it.”

“So in other words, you're convinced he isn’t wrong about me?” Jasmina muttered sarcastically. Cam just nodded.

“You might not want this, but it’s happening. If you decide not to join a coven, that’s fine, but you need to learn how to control your powers and how to defend yourself, something that we can help you with.” Cam explained. Jasmina just looked down at her hands. The pair finished their drinks then headed outside, walking towards the mall. Cam tried to make small talk and Jasmina tried to answer, but her mind was elsewhere. Once they finally reached the mall, Jasmina paused looking to Cam. She couldn't think of what to say to him. Cam grabbed her hand writing his number on it. “Even if you don’t believe in what you’re seeing, I need to know what it is.” Cam said, then left before Jasmina could utter a word. She looked at the number on her hand, then back to the direction he had gone. She sighed to herself, then got her phone out. She entered his number and then sent a text to Candice.